Early Van Halen Manager to Tell All in New Book

The manager who took care of Van Halen’s early years has promised to present a no-holds-barred account of the band's rise to fame in an upcoming book.

Noel Monk was a stage manager at Woodstock in 1969 and went on to work with Bill Graham at the Fillmore East venue in New York. In 1978, he took on the role of Van Halen’s tour manager before becoming the band members’ personal manager, a position he retained until they’d achieved stardom. He quit in 1985 at the same time as singer David Lee Roth.

His memoir, Runnin’ With the Devil, will be published on June 13, and he said it will offer a realistic perspective of the group’s personalities and antics from those years. “Van Halen’s rise was one of the most thrilling the rock world had ever seen," Dey Street Books' description reads. "During this infamous run of success, debauchery and drama, few people were closer to the band than Monk. Lifting back the curtain on one of the great untold stories of rock music, he details the most outrageous escapades from his time as confidant, fixer and promoter, from hotel-room destruction, outrageous backstage behavior, Eddie Van Halen’s high-profile marriage to Valerie Bertinelli, to the incredible drug use and drinking that would ultimately fuel the conflict between the band members.”

The book will also explore the usual sex and drugs sbujects. Dey Street promises that Monk "goes behind the legend of Eddie Van Halen, bringing into focus the unique combination of talent, vision, hardship and naivete that not only shaped one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time, but also made him vulnerable to the trappings of fame. Monk also sheds light on a breakup long shrouded in rumor and animosity, telling the story of Roth’s departure as he saw it, and explaining how a band at the height of their powers found themselves struggling in vain to hold it all together.”

Runnin’ With the Devil is described as “messy, loud and most of all fun,” and will be available in hardback, paperback, ebook and audio CD formats. Limited-edition copies signed by Monk are now available for pre-order at the Van Halen Store.

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